Chapter Twenty-Four
I stood in front of Law’s car on the track of Talladega, about to reach in to give him his good luck kiss, before he reached out to stop me.
“I want to give this a kiss first,” Law said as he leaned in to kiss my stomach. I placed a hand where his lips had just been and leaned down to give him my kiss. “I love this. I love having you two here.”
“And I love you.” I giggled and then reached into the back pocket of the shorts I was wearing. I pulled out the sonogram I had gotten yesterday while Law was at the track. It didn’t show much, but it had just enough of a little bubble to show just where our baby was growing.
I pulled the photo around and handed it to him. His hand faltered when it reached for the picture.
“Anya.” My name on his lips was sweet admittance that I was making him break just before he was about to race. He reached into his suit and pulled out a photo of us that he always kept in there and folded the sonogram around it. “Now I have all of us here.”
He patted just above his heart as he placed the photos back in their place. I leaned down one more time and gave him a kiss before pulling back so Tony could give him his helmet. I waved at Law as we made our way back to the pit, but Chloe stopped me and pulled me to the side.
“Tell me what I just saw was real.” She jumped up and down beside me.
“What did you see?” I acted like it was nothing, since we were waiting to tell everyone until I hit my three months.
“Lawson kissing your stomach!” She held her hand out just over the fabric of my shirt and her eyes silently asked if she could touch. I nodded and she placed her hand there and sighed. “It will be so nice to have someone to dote on.”
I smiled at her and placed my hand next to hers.
“We’re excited.” That was an understatement. Law and I were ecstatic. We had been staying up each night, trying to list out names that we wanted, colors that would work for a nursery if it was a boy or girl. We couldn’t agree on anything, so when he had to come to the track to get ready for the race, we promised no baby talk until next week.
“As you should be.” Chloe was beaming at me. “Now, you two go watch your man.”
She threw me a wink and then headed over to Jimmy’s pit as I made my way over to Law’s. When I reached the bunker, Tony held out my headphones to me and we both geared up to watch Law race.
It felt different this time. With us being here for the home race and not having to really come to the track until it was time to. We had spent the morning at home and then made our way over, Law making sure to drive slower than he normally would. He was taking every precaution he could and it made me fall even more for him.
As I sat there in the pit and the race started, I tried to remember how we had gotten here. How Law and I had managed to get from his spilling tea all over my leo, to me sitting in a race pit, pregnant.
I thought back to the moment I knew he was it and it was the second his dark blue eyes had crashed into mine. It was something about the way he carried himself that drew me to him, enough for me to pick up my entire life and move out to Alabama to give us a shot. I knew we were worth it the moment I had gotten on the plane that day, but believe me when I say I never thought in a million years that only a few months later I would be here, that Law and I would be here.
I sat back in my chair as I watch Law go lap after lap, a sense of calm coming over me as I remembered the first race I watched him in at the bar and cheered him on. Even the first race I went to and yeah, even the first crash. Everything that had happened between us had brought us to now.
Law’s car went around a curb and he ducked low, leading into the pack toward the front. He had started in the fifteenth, not trying as he normally did for his races. His excuse, he wanted to spend time with me, so he did what he had to do to get a good spot and then came right home after the qualifying rounds.
I had chastised him for not putting in all his effort, but he’d won me over with kisses. He’d promised me he would win this one for us. Not just Law and me, but for me and this baby.
I placed my hand over my stomach and looked over at Tony, who was watching me with a big smile on his face. He couldn’t say anything without the other crew members finding out, but he winked at me and turned his attention back to the track. I rubbed my hand in circular motions across my stomach and reached for the water at my side. The doctor had said I’d probably get nauseous if I was going to spend the day out and about, but drinking water should help.
I took a few sips and drew my attention back to where Law was gaining lead into the top ten cars. He stayed where he was, sitting in that eleventh spot because he knew he still had time before other drivers started drafting and moving. If he just stayed till the last one hundred laps, he could make his move easily.
When he went to make his move, I watched as his car reached down the bottom, but something felt off. The car shook in place and the driver behind him didn’t slow, tapping the back bumper and sending Law flying to the top of the track, slamming into three other cars
His car smashed into the wall, the whole front end disintegrating right before my eyes, and when the next car crashed into Law’s side, it sent his car flipping.
I lost the ability to breathe after I sucked in a gasp.
Once.
Twice.
Three times and it landed with a loud thud on the tilted concrete of the track and another car slammed into the side of it after trying to dodge another car that had bolted in front of him. Both cars skidded to a stop and a red flag went out immediately and carts drove out to the track with no time to waste. My hand had clutched onto Tony’s and my heart raced inside my chest.
We had done this before.
I could do this again.
